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Bringing Asylum Shadows into the Light with Danny v. Montfort

We have just published a paper by Danny van Montfort, Coghlan, D., & Zandee, D. P. (2025). First-Person Insights From Appreciative Inquiry as Insider Action Research: How to Integrate the Shadow Into Appreciation. Action Research.

Danny, who works in a Dutch asylum center for unaccompanied refugee children, introduces the paper:

“When we think about Appreciative Inquiry (Ai), we often picture positive stories, uplifting conversations, and a focus on what’s going well. But during an Ai initiative I facilitated in a Dutch asylum center for unaccompanied refugee children — where I work in a dual role as social worker and insider action researcher — I learned that team and center development also requires engaging with “shadow processes”: gossip, frustrations, suppressed emotions, and unspoken tensions.

Facilitating Ai in my own workplace gave me a unique perspective. I could sense and observe not only the energy, optimism, and aspirations that Ai workshops sparked, but also what unfolded afterward — in hallway conversations and other casual exchanges, where both strengths and possibilities and the shadow of organizational life emerged. These informal dialogues can make or break real organizational change.

It was precisely being so close to the shadow — and indeed part of it — that made working appreciatively so challenging. It pushed me to the edge of my ability to maintain an appreciative stance and keep faith in the potential for change.

Through trying, stumbling, and reflecting, I developed “first-person pathways” — personal practices for reconnecting with appreciation when the shadow feels overwhelming. These helped me, and can help other insiders, rediscover appreciation and weave the shadow into appreciative conversations in a way that supports real change.

This experience taught me that Ai and “appreciation” aren’t about focusing on the positive. Instead, they’re about holding both strengths and shortcomings in the same space and embracing them — with honesty, curiosity, care, and genuine appreciation.

As a scholarly contribution, the study enriches the Ai literature with actionable knowledge on how to work with such a nuanced understanding of “appreciation” — one that explicitly considers the rich range of “shortcomings” or “deficits” that surface in the informal sphere of daily practice. I developed these insights together with my co-authors, David Coghlan and Danielle Zandee, through data analysis and the theorizing that emerged from it.

How do YOU navigate the shadow in your own action research practice? What happens when you invite it in?”

Other media

Danny’s photo is of a “balancing” artifact in the center created by one of Danny’s co-researchers. We look forward to hearing more from Danny and colleagues in an upcoming podcast!

The article’s forever citation:

van Montfort, D., Coghlan, D., & Zandee, D. P. (2025). First-Person Insights From Appreciative Inquiry as Insider Action Research: How to Integrate the Shadow Into Appreciation. Action Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/14767503251369671